Sakura's Choice
by ilovesoccer13
Summary: Naruto has a dream that he sees Sasuke kiss Sakura, and it makes it hard for him to look at her. And when the two of them and Kakashi go after Sasuke... Will Sakura have to choose between Naruto and Sasuke?
1. The Dream

Sasuke walked closer and closer to Sakura, a strange look in his eyes, as Naruto watched them from behind a bush. Sakura stared back at him, waiting with baited breath. They were both standing in a clearing, and from their point of view, they were alone.

Sasuke finally reached her. "Sakura," he whispered, caressing her cheek.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered back, frozen to the spot. "What are you d...?"

Thirteen-year-old Naruto gasped from his hiding place as Sasuke leaned forward and pressed his lips to Sakura's. He felt the first tear fall as Sakura deepened the kiss, and then Naruto turned and fled before he could see anything more. He ran through the woods in the direction of his house, reaching it and running inside. He should never have decided to follow her.

_Naruto was walking to Team 7's meeting place for the day, which was in the middle of a road that had fences on both sides. Just as he was about to turn a corner, he heard Sasuke's voice, and he threw himself back so the two shinobi around the corner couldn't see him. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but this was Sasuke, how bad could it be? _

_"Hey, Sakura?" _

_"Yeah, Sasuke?!" Naruto could hear the excitement in Sakura's voice. _

_"Would you be willing to meet me in the clearing near our training area tonight?"_

_"Sure, Sasuke! But why?" _

_"You'll see. Just...don't tell Naruto, okay?" _

_"Whatever you say!" _

_Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. What could Sasuke possibly want? Well, he was gonna find out. _

_That night, Naruto waited at Sakura's house until she came out. Silently, he followed her, all the way to the clearing Sasuke had mentioned. Sasuke was already there when Sakura arrived. She walked towards him, and Naruto ducked behind a bush so they couldn't see him. He peeked over to see Sakura and Sasuke standing face to face, about ten feet apart. _

_"So Sasuke, why did you want me to come here? If you want to train, that's fine, but we can't be out too late or my mom'll freak." _

_Sasuke shook his head no. _

_"Then..." _

_Sakura fell silent as Sasuke started to walk towards her. _

Naruto ran inside his house, slamming the door behind him and letting the tears flow freely. "I thought..." he said aloud, his voice cracking. He thought back to the day when their team had first met Kakashi. Sakura had said she loved Sasuke, and hated Naruto.

"I thought she was just joking..." Naruto whispered, standing alone in his kitchen. "I thought...maybe it could be the other way around some day...I guess I was wrong..." He looked up, one of the kitchen knives lying on the counter glinting in the moonlight, catching his eye. "Maybe if I just..." he thought, taking a step towards it. He stopped and shook his head. "No, that would be stupid..." The image of Sakura and Sasuke kissing shot through Naruto's mind. "But..." He advanced slowly, reaching the counter and looking at the knife. "Should I...maybe she'd regret kissing Sasuke...maybe she'd realize how much I mattered to her..."

"Or maybe she'd be glad I was gone..." Naruto thought. "What if this is what she wants? She hates me after all." Naruto sighed. "This is stupid, I'm thirteen! I shouldn't be worried, all they did was kiss..."

Naruto knew full well he was lying to himself. Sasuke had kissed Sakura, and there was no way Sakura would ever change her mind about him. Naruto tilted his head and the knife glinted again. He picked it up. "Should I?" He weighed his options. "If I do it, Sakura will probably be happy. The village will be happy. The Kyubbi will be destroyed. The only one who loses...is me." He grit his teeth and turned the knife around so it was facing himself, poking his chest with it delicately. "This will probably hurt..." he thought. He poked himself a little harder, and felt his shirt dampen. He looked down and saw it was also turning red. Naruto looked down at himself sadly.

"Goodbye Konoha...goodbye Sakura..." Naruto whispered aloud, wiping away his tears and extending his arms in front of him, the knife's tip facing him. "Will you miss me?" He brought the knife down on himself.

Fifteen-year-old Naruto sat up swiftly, feeling his warm face. He could almost feel the searing pain in his chest. His heart rate slowly descended until he was breathing calmly. "It was only a dream," he whispered. "Just a dream. It wasn't real." He got up out of bed and grabbed his head, tripping over his own feet and falling to the floor. Everything was spinning. He got up and stumbled over to his bathroom, reaching inside the medicine cabinet. It was empty.

"Damn..." he thought. He looked in the mirror. His whole face was so red, it looked like it was on fire. "Ugh...I need to get to a hospital." He slowly made his way out of the bathroom and to the front door, not even bothering to put a shirt on or pants on over his boxers. He left his house half-naked, and got an immediate wake-up call. It must have been five or six in the morning, and the wind was blowing hard. Naruto shivered in the cold and heard his own teeth begin to chatter almost immediately. But being the persistent ninja he was, he refused to turn back and go inside, instead choosing to head towards the hospital in cold weather with a high fever.

Naruto guessed he was about halfway there when suddenly he heard a sleepy voice call out, "Naruto?"

He squinted at a shape farther down the road, vaguely registering pink hair. "Sakura?"

"Naruto, what on Earth are you doing out here!?" Sakura called out, running towards him. When she got close enough Naruto realized she was wearing a heavy coat and looked like she had been up all night.

"Sakura...you look tired..." Naruto said, yawning himself. Suddenly he looked at the ground beside her. "Ah, Akamaru, that new head you've grown looks absolutely beautiful."

Sakura looked beside her. Nothing was there. "Naruto, you're delirious. You need to get to a hospital. She took off her coat and wrapped it around Naruto's shoulders, leading him in the direction from where she came. "Tsunade's been busy. I was up all night helping her there," Sakura told him, gesturing towards the hospital as it came into view. Naruto giggled for no reason.

Sakura led him through the front doors and gave a nod to the desk clerk, who let her through. She immediately headed to the emergency area and led Naruto through and into a room, setting him down on the bed inside. She called for a nurse, and one showed up a few seconds later. "What is it, ma'am?"

"This boy's got a high fever," Sakura told her. "Symptoms are as bad as hallucinations. Get me something to bring the fever down, and a glass of water."

"Right away," the nurse replied. Naruto stayed still on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Hey Sakura-chan, that one looks like a dragon!" he called out after a moment, pointing up at the ceiling. Sakura looked. All she saw were regular, square ceiling tiles. She sighed and looked at Naruto. His face was still extremely red, and he was sweating heavily. Sakura felt his forehead. It was definitely warmer than normal. The nurse came back with a pill and a glass of water, as well as a thermometer.

"Thanks," Sakura told her. The nurse nodded and left. Sakura looked at Naruto, who was still staring at the ceiling. "Okay Naruto, are you hungry?" she asked. Naruto looked at her and nodded. "Well...how about some ramen!" Naruto smiled and nodded some more. Suddenly he stopped and gripped his head. Sakura looked around and saw a washcloth lying on the counter across the room, next to a sink. She wet it and placed it on Naruto's forehead, and he let go of his head. Sakura smiled at him. He smiled back lazily, his eyes half-closed. "Alright Naruto, I'm going to put this in your mouth. It'll take a second, but afterwards I'll get you some ramen. Okay?" Sakura showed him the thermometer.

Naruto nodded, opening his mouth. Sakura put the thermometer under his tongue, and held it there until it started beeping. She pulled it out and looked at it. "106.8..." She looked at him. "Good job. Now, I'm sure you're thirsty, right?" Naruto looked at her with the same expression as before and nodded again. Sakura lifted the glass of water and showed it to him, along with the pill. "This pill will help you get better." He opened his mouth and she dropped the pill in. Sakura held the glass of water to his lips, and he gulped it all down, along with the pill. Sakura smiled and patted his hand, standing up to leave. "Spend the rest of the night here, okay?" She turned to walk away and felt a hand grip hers tightly. She turned back around.

Naruto smiled at her. "What about my ramen?" he asked. From his tone of voice Sakura could tell he was still slightly delirious, but he seemed to be getting a little better.

"I'll get you ramen tomorrow, okay?" Sakura told him, smiling back at him.

Naruto giggled. "Like a date?"

Sakura's smile disappeared, a glare replacing it. "NO, NOT LIKE A DATE, YOU BAKA!" She raised a fist and Naruto cringed. Sakura's glare slid right off her face, and she immediately looked at him, worried. "I'm so sorry, I almost hit a patient!" she cried. Naruto relaxed and looked at her. Sakura looked down and noticed that he was still holding her left hand. She blushed and looked up at him.

"Uh...Naruto, can you let g-"

"Stay with me?" Naruto cut her off. Sakura raised her eyebrows and sighed, sitting down next to him.

A while later, Sakura looked at the nearest clock. It had been almost an hour since she had last taken his temperature.

"Let me take your temperature again," she told him. Naruto nodded and opened his mouth. Sakura stuck the thermometer in again, and when she took it out a minute later, it read: 103.6. "Well, that medicine really seems to be working," Sakura told him. "You don't need me here." She moved to leave, but Naruto didn't release her hand, and she didn't have the heart to jerk it away while he was sick.

"I _want _you here," he told her. Sakura blushed again.

"What is with me all of a sudden?" Sakura thought. "I'm used to Naruto's flirting..." She sighed and sat down in a chair next to him. "Fine. But if you make me sick, you're dead." Naruto didn't reply. "Naruto?" Sakura asked. She looked over at him and saw he was asleep. She sighed again and propped her chin up on her hand. After a minute, Sakura's eyes also closed, and she fell asleep, still gripping Naruto's hand with hers.

When she awoke the clock read noon. Sakura jumped up, and Naruto's hand slid out of hers and banged against the side of the bed. He sat up. "Ow!" he cried out, shaking his hand. He looked up at her. "Sakura, what are you doing in my room? And were you holding my hand?" He gave her a sly grin. Sakura rolled her eyes, and Naruto looked around them. "Why am I in the hospital?"

"You don't remember? You had a high fever, and you were hallucinating."

"Really?" Naruto asked. "What did I hallucinate?"

"Well, first you complimented Akamaru on his second head, and then you said one of the ceiling tiles was shaped like a dragon."

Naruto looked up. "Those are squares."

"Yeah, I know."

They stared at each other, and suddenly Naruto burst out laughing. Sakura smiled at him. "I need to take your temperature, by the way."

Naruto nodded and opened his mouth, and they repeated the process. "99 on the dot," Sakura told him. "You're almost back to normal, and definitely safe to leave."

Naruto jumped out of bed and looked down at himself. "Why am I in my boxers, and more importantly, why do I have your jacket on?"

"You tried to walk here in the freezing cold with just your boxers on," Sakura explained.

"Wow...that's pretty stupid."

"Like I said, you were delirious." Sakura led Naruto out of the hospital.

As they walked through the front doors, Naruto looked at her. "Why do I get the feeling you owe me some ramen?"


	2. The Mission

Sakura looked back at him. "Out of all the little details, that's the one you had to remember?"

Naruto grinned. "I thought so. You're taking me to Ichiraku Ramen, Sakura. You promised."

Sakura grumbled. "Fine. But...you do realize you're still only wearing your boxers, right?"

Naruto looked down. "Crap. Let's stop by my house on the way then."

They reached Naruto's house a few minutes later, and Naruto got dressed in his room as Sakura waited by the front door. It was then that he remembered his dream. He pulled the last of his clothes on with a frown, and rejoined Sakura. She looked at him.

"Hey Naruto, why do you look so different all of a sudden?"

Naruto tore his eyes from the ground and up to Sakura's face. Seeing her only made the image of Sasuke and her kissing clearer. "Nothing."

Sakura raised her eyebrows and didn't take her eyes off him as they started down the road to Ichiraku Ramen. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He looked up at her and forced a wide smile. "Let's go get some ramen!"

Sakura laughed as Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the shop, changing his expression back to a frown when she couldn't see his face. They each took a seat at the bar and Naruto ordered a miso-ramen. Once it was brought to him, he dug in, burying his face in the bowl. Eating the ramen made him feel slightly better, and when he finished he was almost back to normal. However, one thing still plagued him. "Hey Sakura?"

Sakura, who had been sitting with her elbow on the bar and her hand on her chin, sat up and looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you still like Sasuke?" Naruto asked, avoiding her eyes.

"What? Yeah, of course!" Sakura replied without thinking. A second later, she began to actually ponder the question, but Naruto was already getting up.

"I know you were supposed to treat me, but take this anyway," he said blankly, taking a coupon out of his pocket and handing it to her. "Goodbye."

Sakura stared at him and took the coupon silently. She watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets and his face pointed down at the ground.

"Maybe he's still sleepy from the fever..." Sakura thought. She handed the coupon to the owner and got up, walking in the opposite direction from Naruto, thinking about his question. "Do I still like Sasuke?" she asked herself. Her immediate response was, "Of course I do, he's hot!", but once she really thought about it, she wasn't sure. His looks might have been good enough for her when she was twelve, but when she really thought about it, he had been a jerk. Especially when she had tried to stop him from leaving the village...

"Hey, Sakura!"

Sakura looked up and saw Ino, Tenten, and Hinata waving at her from down the street. "Hey guys," she said unenthusiastically once she reached them. "I'm not really in the mood for a "Girls' Day Out", or whatever you're calling it these days," she said.

They frowned at her. "Geez, you're sounding more and more like an old lady every day," Ino commented.

Sakura frowned. "Sorry, I'm just really tired. I stayed up all night at the hospital, and when I finally got to leave I saw Naruto out in the freezing cold in his boxers, so I had to take him there and treat him for a fever. And today he's been acting weird, and when I ask him what's wrong he won't tell me. And I KNOW something's wrong; I was supposed to treat him to ramen and he paid instead!"

All three girls gasped. "Wow, there IS something wrong with him..." Ino replied, tapping her chin in thought.

"Yeah. And to top it off, out of the blue, he asked me if I still liked Sasuke!" Sakura cried. All three girls froze.

"What did you say?" Tenten asked.

"Well, yes, of course."

Even Hinata clapped her hand to her forehead. "Um...t-that might have caused the p-problem, Sakura."

Sakura frowned. "I admit, now that I think about it, that it probably didn't help, but he was acting weird before that."

"Maybe there's a reason Naruto asked you if you still liked Sasuke. Maybe that's the problem. He probably still thinks you do. And since you said yes, I'm guessing he was right to be worried," Ino told her.

"But...I just sort of said that before I thought about it. That might not even be the answer!"

"So...you don't like Sasuke?" Tenten asked.

Sakura scratched her head. "I don't know...this is too confusing, I'm leaving."

"Um...bye then...I guess..." Ino said, giving her a strange look. Sakura turned a leave, and a resounding poof right in front of her face made her jump about a foot in the air.

"Kakashi-sensei, you scared the crap out of me!" Sakura cried. Kakashi looked up from his book.

"Sorry Sakura. We have been assigned a mission today, so I need to know where Naruto is."

"Er...he went that way." Sakura pointed in the other direction.

"Thanks. Meet us at the gates to the village." He poofed away.

Sakura sighed and turned to her friends. "Well, looks like I might not see you guys for a few days," Sakura told them. "Bye."

They all waved, and Sakura turned and ran to the front gates, which were on the other side of the village. When she finally got there, Naruto and Kakashi had already arrived.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're here on time!" Sakura exclaimed. Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "And Naruto..." She looked at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

After a moment, Kakashi looked at them, marking a place in his book and putting it away. "I finished that chapter," he announced. Sakura and Naruto blinked at him.

"Yeah, I know, you don't care. Anyway, I'm sure our mission is important to both of you. We're to capture Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura and Naruto both looked at him in surprise, then shot quick looks at each other, before looking away nervously.

"Yup...soooo...let's go then..." Kakashi said, sensing the awkwardness. The gates were opened for them, and they both headed out on the main road. "He was recently spotted about five miles away from here, so if we hurry, we might run into him. Pakkun should be able to help." Kakashi quickly summoned him.

"Hey guys!" Pakkun said cheerfully, looking from Sakura to Naruto. They both frowned and looked away. Kakashi looked at Pakkun and shrugged, then quickly explained the mission.

Pakkun sniffed the ground. "Nope, he hasn't been here. But let's move towards where he was spotted, and then maybe I'll get the scent."

Kakashi nodded and leaped into the nearest tree. Sakura and Naruto followed. They leaped from tree to tree for a few minutes, before reaching a clearing with a burnt-out fire in the middle.

"Do you think he was here?" Sakura asked Naruto as Kakashi and Pakkun investigated. Naruto shrugged, focusing on his feet. "Hey, Naruto..." Sakura said, poking him in the shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Naruto looked up at her face, and the image flashed through his mind again. "Dammit..." he thought. He grit his teeth. "I said nothing!" he told her, looking down at his feet again. If he had been looking at her face, he would have seen her eyes flash angrily.

"Fine. I'll stop asking," she said coldly.

"Good," Naruto replied emotionlessly. He walked away from her, towards the burnt wood from the fire. "Why is this bothering me so much?" he asked himself. "It wasn't even real!"

Sakura, meanwhile, was heading towards Kakashi, ignoring Naruto along the way. "Was he here?" she asked Pakkun, who nodded in return. "Then why aren't we going?" she asked.

"We were just about to set off, Sakura. Let's go." He hopped back into a tree, and Sakura and Pakkun followed. After a moment, Naruto followed into step behind them.

After over six hours of following Sasuke's scent, Pakkun stopped. "I need a rest," he told them.

"What!" Sakura cried. "There's no way you're tired already!" She set her jaw. "We have...to keep...looooooooooking..." she said the last word mid-yawn. Kakashi looked from her to Naruto, who also looked slightly drowsy.

"Alright, let's take a rest here."

"What!" Naruto cried. "No! I'm going after him!" Naruto tried to hop past them, but Kakashi grabbed his shirt and held him back.

"Naruto, I know you're tired. We'll never be able to capture Sasuke if we don't take a break and sleep," Kakashi said. Naruto sighed and slumped, jumping to the ground when Kakashi let go of him.

"Fine. But we're not sleeping for very long, okay?"

"Right," Sakura agreed.

"Sure, Naruto," Kakashi said lazily, knowing full well he could wait until noon the next day to wake them up if he wanted to.

They all gathered sticks and set up a fire in a nearby clearing, and pretty soon Kakashi and Pakkun were lying on the ground, half-asleep. Naruto and Sakura both sat by the fire, watching the flames dance and crackle. Sakura glanced over at Naruto, who sat with his hand against his cheek, staring into the flames.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura tried again, despite her earlier promises.

"What?" he asked with a tinge of annoyance, not looking away from the fire.

Sakura frowned angrily. "Nevermind."

A few minutes passed.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not. If I was, I wouldn't be talking to you right now."

"Well, whatever. I suppose ignore wasn't the right word. You're acting weird though. It'll get in the way of our mission and teamwork if you don't shape up."

Naruto sneered, still not looking at her. "Oh yeah, wouldn't want my problems to get in the way of your precious Sasuke," he snarled, still not tearing his eyes away from the fire.

Sakura glared at him. "He's not my "precious Sasuke", he's our friend!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Some friend."

Sakura looked at him. "What is wrong with you today?"

Naruto merely shook his head. Sakura growled angrily. The flames seemed to spring upwards to match her feelings. She narrowed her eyes at him, but Naruto still sat calmly with his hand on his cheek. Something flared up inside of Sakura. She jumped at him and tackled him to the ground, pinning his arms and legs down with her own and staring him in the face.

"LOOK AT ME!"

Naruto's eyes widened, but he averted them without a reply, looking over at Kakashi and Pakkun, who were now asleep. He felt Sakura tighten her hold on him, and with a pang of fear realized she was stronger. This seemed to dawn on Sakura too, and she grabbed both his wrists with one hand instead, pinning them above his head. She used her other hand to grab his face and make him look at her.

"You're going to tell me what's wrong...now."

Naruto gulped, staring into her eyes. The image kept replaying and replaying in them, and Naruto shut his eyes after a moment and let out a whimper. "Stop it!" he cried. Sakura looked at him with surprise, and let his arms go without thinking. Both of his hands flew to his head, and he laid on the ground, clutching his head with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Naruto! Naruto, are you okay?" Sakura cried, getting off of him and kneeling next to him as her anger ebbed away, laying a hand softly on his shoulder. After a moment, Naruto calmed down, opening his eyes slowly and looking away from her. "Naruto...why won't you look at me?" Sakura asked softly. She laid her other hand on his arm and felt him flinch.

"I..." Naruto started. Sakura looked down at him with an unfamiliar feeling in her chest. Naruto's head was turned to the side so she was looking at his profile. Immediately her eyes flew to his lips. She felt a sudden magnetic attration, and for a second she wanted to...Sakura shook the thought off, instead squeezing his shoulder to let him know she was listening.

"Um...I sorta had a dream last night," Naruto said. Sakura nodded, and Naruto must have seen it out of the corner of his eye, for he continued. "In the dream, I was behind a bush, and you and Sasuke were in a clearing. I was spying on you. Sasuke had told you to meet him there, and you thought he wanted to train with you. But instead...he kissed you. And you kissed back." Naruto swallowed sharply. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed.

"And what did you do?" she asked.

Naruto looked down at the ground. "I ran. When I got home, I was really sad because I thought that meant you hated me. So...I got a knife, and...uh...yeah. Then I woke up."

Sakura stared at him. "So, you had a dream that I kissed Sasuke. I understand that part. But why won't you look at me. It was just a dream, Naruto. I didn't really kiss him."

Naruto glared at her feet. "Every single time I look at your face, I see you making out with him in that clearing. Do you know what that feels like?"

Only half of Sakura's mind was in the conversation at this point. The other half was busy watching Naruto's lips move, imagining what it would feel like to...

"Stop!" Sakura exclaimed. She knew she was being extremely insensitive. Naruto's head jerked up, and he remembered just in time to avoid looking at her face.

"What?" Naruto said with a tinge of anger.

"Sorry, I didn't mean you...just, never mind," Sakura told him. "And no, I don't know what it feels like. I haven't ever had a dream like that..." Sakura was met with a brief image of Hinata making out with Naruto. She shivered. "I'm sure it would be pretty unpleasant though. At any rate, we should finish this conversation later, once we capture Sasuke. Let's go to sleep."

They both laid down a few feet away from each other. Naruto put both arms behind his head and stared up at the sky. "I'm glad I got all this off my chest. I don't know what it'll take to change the whole looking thing though."

"I'm sure it'll wear off eventually," Sakura told him. Suddenly she remembered something. "Hey Naruto..."

"Yeah?"

"You know the question you asked me at Ichiraku Ramen today?"

"You mean if you liked Sasuke?"

"Yeah. I changed my mind. I don't." She rolled over to face him, just in time to see a grin spread across his face. "Goodnight Naruto."

"Goodnight, Sakura."


	3. The Injury

"Rise and shine!" Sakura heard Kakashi's cheerful voice call from somewhere above her. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and recalling the events from the night before.

She shook her head and a disgusted look crossed her face. "I can't believe I wanted to kiss Naruto! He's so..." She heard a sound from a few feet away and turned to see Naruto sit up and stretch...with no shirt on.

"...hot..." her mind finished for her. Sakura realized she was staring, and tore her eyes away with a blush. As soon as it faded away Sakura twisted her mouth into a frown and turned to look at him. "Naruto! What are you doing, put a shirt on and let's go!"

Naruto yawned and blinked at her feet. "Sakura-chan, why do we have to get up so early!" he complained. "I'm hungry, aren't we going to have any breakfast?"

Kakashi's voice came from above them again, and Sakura realized he was standing on a nearby tree branch. "Don't you want to catch Sasuke, Naruto?"

Naruto's half-closed eyes jerked wide open and he hopped into the air, putting his shirt on quickly. "Of course I do! What are you waiting for, Sakura-chan? Let's go!" He hopped up onto the tree next to Kakashi, who Sakura realized had Pakkun on his shoulder. Sakura rolled her eyes and jumped up to join them.

"Alright Pakkun, can you find his scent again?" Kakashi asked. Pakkun sniffed the air.

"It's faint, but I've got it. Let's go." He led them through the woods once again, pausing to check every clearing they passed.

A few minutes later, they found another clearing and stopped again. "Hey!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing at something in the middle of it. "That's a fire...or it was."

"You're right. Good job, Sakura. He must have spent the night here," Kakashi concluded.

"Do you think he knows we're following him?" Naruto asked, hopping forward to another tree. Sakura stared at the branch he was standing on.

"Is that...damn!" she thought.

"I don't kn-" Kakashi stopped mid-sentence as Sakura came barreling towards Naruto, tackling him off the branch. They both went flying towards the ground, belly-up, and Naruto saw the branch explode above them.

"What..." he said, staring at it in shock.

"An exploding tag," Sakura explained, grabbing Naruto with one arm and a tree branch with another, stopping their fall. Kakashi jumped down towards them, along with Pakkun.

"That was close..." Naruto said quietly. "Thanks, Sakura."

"No problem," Sakura told him, pulling them both up to sit on the branch.

"Good job, Sakura. Naruto could have been seriously injured. I'm sorry I didn't notice it before," Kakashi apologized.

"That's okay, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura told him.

"Well, he must know we're following him. We have to watch out for traps now," Kakashi told them. Naruto nodded.

"Pakkun, you still have the scent, right?" Naruto asked. Pakkun nodded, and Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Then let's go."

The four of them took off through the trees in a diamond shape, Pakkun leading the way, Naruto on the left, Sakura on the right, and Kakashi in the back.

Ten minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Sasuke or of any traps. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Naruto asked.

"Postive. I'm following Sasuke's scent," Pakkun told him.

"Well...if you say s...SAKURA LOOK OUT!" Naruto shouted, spotting something on the branch she was on.

"Huh?" Sakura glanced over at Naruto as a tag exploded right next to her foot. She jumped into the air as quickly as she could, avoiding the worst of the explosion, but when she came back down and landed on another branch, she felt a pang in her ankle. The others jumped over to her, and Kakashi bent down to look at her foot.

"How does it feel?" he asked.

"It hurts a little...I think my ankle's sprained," Sakura told him, trying to move it. "Ow!" she exclaimed.

"Do you think you'll be okay? Can you fight?" Kakashi asked her.

"Maybe. I don't think I can run, and it hurts to jump from branch to branch, but I can still use my fists," she told them.

"Alright," Kakashi stood up. "Naruto!"

Naruto jumped in surprise next to him, taking his eyes off Sakura's ankle. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Carry Sakura. We can't risk her ankle getting worse. We'll stop in a little while to bandage it, if we don't find Sasuke before then."

"B-but..." Naruto looked from Kakashi, who was staring at him, to Sakura, whose eyes were trained on the ground while a pink tinge covered her cheeks. "What if we get attacked? I won't be able to defend myself!"

"Let me worry about that," Kakashi told him. He lifted a surprised Sakura over his shoulders and handed her to Naruto, who held out his arms flatly in front of him.

"Uh..." Sakura said as she was being placed sideways in Naruto's arms. "Are you sure we have to do this Kakashi-sensei?"

"Positive. It'll be faster this way, and I'll still be able to defend us," Kakashi explained. He let go of Sakura and Naruto held her up in front of himself, gasping.

"You're heavy, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura's whole face turned red with anger. "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!"

Naruto's eyes widened as Sakura raised a fist.

"Now now, calm down Sakura. This'll be easier if you two stop fighting," Kakashi told her.

Sakura lowered her hand and grumbled. "He called me fat!"

"Hey! I did not!" Naruto exclaimed. "I said you're heavy. It's probably from your muscles!"

"Yeah, whatever..." Sakura said, crossing her arms. "But don't you dare drop me!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I'm not THAT weak!"

Kakashi turned away, shaking his head. "Teenagers."

When Naruto finally got used to Sakura's weight, they started off again. While Pakkun followed Sasuke's scent, and Kakashi and Naruto kept their eyes peeled for Sasuke and traps, Sakura focused on staring at the arm wrapped around her legs, watching Naruto's bicep work to hold her up. Even with his shirt in the way she could almost see it flexing. She was distracted from these thoughts when she felt herself slipping. "Naruto, you baka! If you don't move your arm up higher my butt's gonna fall!"

Naruto blushed and looked down at her middle without stopping. "Um...I didn't think you wanted me to put my hand there..." Sakura realized what he was saying and her face reddened to match his.

"Er...well, if you don't I'll fall..." Sakura glanced away from him, feeling her face heat up even more.

"Uh...okay, Sakura...but don't kill me...you brought it up..."

Sakura felt Naruto's hand move slowly up the underside of her legs, and she struggled to stop herself from shivering. His hand reached her butt, and she bit down on her bottom lip nervously. Neither of them said anything, but Sakura could almost feel the heat radiating off of Naruto's face.

"If he squeezes...I swear..." Sakura thought, although she wasn't really sure what she would do.

"Naruto, on your left!" Kakashi called out, and Naruto jumped to a branch on his right to avoid another exploding tag. Pakkun looked back, and seeing no injuries, didn't stop. Sakura and Naruto both sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called back to him. Kakashi nodded in response.

"Naruto, look out!" Sakura shouted, and Naruto turned back around in time to dodge a large tree trunk. Sakura growled in annoyance. "You're going to kill us both!"

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, Sakura. You would have cushioned the blow, so I wouldn't have died!" Naruto said with a smile. Sakura glared at him, then turned to look around Naruto at Kakashi.

"What time is it Kakashi, sensei?" Sakura asked him suddenly. Kakashi looked up.

"The sun's about to set, so it's pretty late. I don't know exactly what time it is."

"And still no sign of Sasuke..." Naruto said with a sigh.

Sakura nodded.

Pakkun looked back at them. "Should we stop?"

Kakashi looked over at Naruto, who seemed to be tiring more quickly from holding Sakura. "I think so." He looked around. "I don't see any clearings around here, so we'll just have to sleep in the middle of the woods." Naruto opened his mouth, but Kakashi cut him off. "No, Naruto, I know you're tired, I can tell. And Sakura's got a sprained ankle that we need to fix up. We'll stay here for the night."

Naruto glared at Kakashi but jumped down to the ground all the same, dropping Sakura about a foot.

She landed with and "Oof" and looked up at him. "What the hell, Naruto! Lay me down softly!"

Naruto frowned and rubbed his neck awkwardly, looking at her legs instead of her face. "Sorry about that, Sakura."

"Language, Sakura!" Kakashi called from a few feet away.

"Since when do you care?" Sakura asked. Kakashi didn't reply. Sakura rolled her eyes and stood up on one foot, hopping over to Kakashi and reaching into a bag he had just laid on the ground. She pulled out a bandage, wrapping it around her ankle. Kakashi sent Naruto to gather logs, and when he returned Kakashi started a fire. By this time, Sakura had begun to heal herself, and Pakkun was already asleep. Kakashi sighed and yawned, lying down near Pakkun.

"Goodnight, Sakura. Goodnight, Naruto. No fighting after I fall asleep, alright?"

Sakura and Naruto rolled their eyes, and Kakashi closed his with a smile. Both Sakura and Naruto sat down by the fire.

"Deja vu, huh?" Naruto asked after a moment. Sakura let the green chakra fade from her hands. She looked up at him.

"Yup. Anything else you need to let out?"

"Yeah..." Naruto looked into the fire seriously. "Your butt feels nice." His face broke out into a grin, and Sakura growled angrily, taking a swing at him. Naruto easily dodged it, meeting her eyes with another smile.

"Hey!" Sakura's anger disappeared. "You looked at me!"

"Yeah, well...while I was out gathering logs I thought about it, and I figured out a way to fix my problem."

"How?"

"Promise me you won't laugh...I kinda took the fake memory of you and Sasuke...and put my head on Sasuke's!"

Sakura's jaw dropped. "You perv!" she exclaimed.

Naruto smiled. "Better stop shouting or you'll wake Kakashi-sensei back up." He pointed to the man in question, who was now on the ground, snoring.

Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled back anyway, putting a hand on the ground and leaning sideways. She stared up at Naruto, who was now looking back into the fire, and admired his face for the second time. Her eyes were immediately attracted to his lips again, and this time she didn't stop her thoughts, or deny them. After picturing herself making out with Naruto for the fifth time, Sakura snapped out of it. "Oh my God...I can't believe I like Naruto! Silly, annoying, goofy, funny, happy-go-lucky Naruto...who's had a crush on me forever..." She ripped her eyes away from his face and let them travel downs his arms and body, blushing the entire time.

"Hey, Naruto..."

Naruto turned away to look at her. Both of them laughed when he met her eyes. "I can't believe you..." Sakura said, shaking her head. "But...are you sure that will last forever? Maybe it won't help for very long..."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Well, I don't know what else to do. What do you suggest?"

Sakura sat up and looked at him, shrugging. "Maybe...you should have something real instead..." She looked away shyly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked with a grin. "I seriously doubt that you're trying to hit on me...so are you saying I should kiss Ino or Hinata?"

Sakura frowned. "No way!"

Naruto frowned too, tapping his chin. "Tenten?"

Sakura glared at him. "No! What makes you think I wouldn't hit on you? You're a guy, I'm a girl..."

"So...you're saying you _are _hitting on me?"

"No! Well...maybe...why do you care?" Sakura crossed her arms and huffed at him. Naruto grinned.

"Maybe?"

"I didn't say maybe! Ok...yeah I did..."

Naruto raised his eyebrows.

"Ok...what I'm trying to say is..." Sakura looked at Naruto, who looked back, slightly confused. Sakura glanced at his lips again just as his tongue unconsciously darted out to wet them. Sakura stared, licking her own lips with a sigh. "Oh, screw it."

Naruto cried out in surprise as Sakura practically tackled him to the ground. "What are you..." Sakura cut him off with a kiss, and Naruto relaxed under her, sighing against her lips as she deepened the kiss with her tongue.

"Hey, get a room!" a voice called out from nearby. They broke apart with equally red cheeks to see Pakkun glaring at them. Kakashi sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around. He saw Sakura sitting on top on Naruto, and they were both gasping for breath and looking at Pakkun.

"Uh..." Kakashi said aloud, and the other three looked at him. "When I wake up in the morning, this never happened." Sakura and Naruto nodded quickly, and Pakkun blinked at him. Slowly, both Kakashi and Pakkun laid back down and closed their eyes nervously. Sakura turned back to Naruto and smiled down at him.

Naruto blinked up at her. "Does this mean you like me?"

Sakura sighed. "Yes Naruto, I think it's pretty obvious."

Naruto let out a girly scream that could even beat an excited Ino, and Kakashi and Pakkun grumbled and rolled over, while Sakura stared at him. "Never do that again."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura climbed off of him and sat down, while Naruto sat up and faced her. "Are you gonna sleep with no shirt on again?" Sakura asked.

Naruto grinned and gave her two thumbs up. "Anything for you, baby."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't do that either."

"What, call you baby?"

"Yes. And the other thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing with your thumbs!"

"What, this?" Naruto gave her two thumbs up and a cheesy Rock Lee smile.

"YES, THAT!"

"SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP!"

"...Yes, Kakashi-sensei."


	4. The Fight

Sakura's eyes slowly opened and the first thing she registered was the arm slung around her from behind. She sat up and spun around quickly, already on alert, grabbing the arm and twisting behind the sleeping boy's back. Naruto jerked awake and looked at her with wide eyes.

"Ow! Sakura, let me go!"

Sakura looked from the arm to Naruto, and back. "Oh." She let him go and he stood up, looking down at her with an uncertain smile.

"You okay?" he asked. Sakura blinked.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine!" she told him, standing up and recollecting the events from the night before just as Naruto grinned and leaned in to kiss her. She gave him a faint smile and turned her head slowly to the side, and his lips met her cheek. Naruto pulled back with a frown, but didn't say anything. At that moment Kakashi sat up and stretched.

"Hey Sakura, Naruto. I see you woke yourselves up this morning. Ready to go?" he asked. Naruto and Sakura exchanged glances, both aware of the fact that he was staying away from the subject of the night before. Kakashi shook Pakkun awake, and within minutes ("No breakfast!" Naruto grumbled. "Eat the leaves!" Kakashi shouted over his shoulder.) they were off through the forest again, trailing Sasuke. Apparently Sasuke had figured out that just sticking tags to trees wasn't enough to stop them, and the traps were getting more elaborate, from kunais flying at them from the middle of nowhere to branches snapping off when they stepped on them, which slowed them down since they couldn't land on them as roughly.

As Sakura dodged another kunai, she said, "The traps are getting less and less difficult. That was only one kunai. We must be catching up to him!"

"Look! There!" Naruto pointed as a shadow flashed behind a tree. They headed towards it, and the shadow dashed out again, running ahead of them through the trees. Sakura recognized the black hair.

"It's Sasuke!" she cried.

Naruto growled loudly. "He's faster than us! We have to stop him while he's not going full speed!" He put his hands together, and after a few signs, a shadow clone appeared. The clone grabbed the real Naruto and flung him forward through the trees. Sasuke turned around just in time to see Naruto an inch away from him. They collided, and Sasuke was knocked off the branch with Naruto on top of him. They punched each other in midair, rolling over until Naruto ended up on the bottom when they hit the ground. Sasuke jumped up off of him, dusting himself off, while Naruto laid there for a second, before standing up to face him. They stared at each other for a moment, before Naruto summoned a clone and then charged at him with his Rasengan.

Before he could reach Sasuke, Kakashi leaped in between them and knocked Naruto roughly to the side. "Naruto, let me deal with this."

Sakura dropped down next to Naruto, who had skidded across the ground and into a rock. She looked down at him with worry, but Naruto looked up at her with a smile, wiping blood away from his lip. "Hey Sakura-chan?"

Sakura swallowed. "Yeah?"

"I know this is a bad time...but will you be my girlfriend?"

Sakura looked away. "Naruto, we're in the middle of a fight." Even she knew she was avoiding the question. "But why am I?" she thought. "I was fine with it last night...but I don't know...this morning, and now seeing Sasuke..." Sakura looked over at Sasuke, who was locked in a Sharingan battle with Kakashi. Naruto picked up on this immediately, and when Sakura turned back to face Naruto, he had an angry frown on his face.

"I see. Well, before you go making out with me, maybe you should make sure you're not going to lie about your feelings for Sasuke," he growled. "I would never have kissed you back if I had known..."

"Naruto...I..."

"I've had it with him. He deserts our village for Orochimaru, he's horrible to you, and here I am, thinking maybe that my dreams were coming true after two and a half years of practically worshipping you. Silly me. Of course you still like Sasuke. You'll always pick him over stupid, annoying, pathetic Naruto!"

"Naruto...that's not true!" Sakura started half-heartedly. Naruto shoved her aside, his eyes already red and a tail sprouting behind him. The force of it knocked Sakura back even farther than Kakashi had knocked Naruto, and when she finally skidded across the ground and hit a tree, Sakura saw stars. Sasuke, meanwhile, had activated his Chidori, and so had Kakashi. They ran towards each other, finally colliding and flying backwards in two different directions. They both landed roughly, but while Sasuke stood up with a loud grunt, Kakashi stayed down.

Sakura recovered and looked from Sasuke to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei!" she cried, getting up and running over to him. Sasuke smirked at the two of them, but was suddenly blindsided by a charging Naruto, who scratched at Sasuke's face until his blood was covering both of them. Still, Sasuke managed to throw Naruto off of him, rubbing blood off himself as three more tails sprouted behind Naruto.

Meanwhile, Sakura sat busy healing Kakashi. "Are you okay Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.

"Yeah. I just hit my head a little hard on the ground. Everything's spinning though, I don't think I'll be able to fight. It's up to you and Naruto."

Sakura looked at him nervously, and then up at Naruto and Sasuke, who were fighting twenty yards away. "Kakashi-sensei...I don't know if I can hurt Sasuke..."

Kakashi looked up at her. "It pains me to mention this...trust me, it really does...but what about what happened between you and Naruto last night?"

Sakura sighed. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I'm over Sasuke..."

"Well, in all my romance novels, the main character follows what their heart says. That's what makes them have happy endings. I know it's cliche, Sakura...but follow your heart."

"But what's that supposed to mean? I like both of them!"

Kakashi's eyes closed before he could respond. Sakura quickly checked his pulse. "Phew...he's just passed out." She got to work healing the rest of his wounds.

Nearby, Sasuke had just pinned Naruto down and activated his Sharingan, trying to look into Naruto's eyes. Naruto shut them tight and kicked Sasuke in the stomach, knocking him off. When he stood up, he noticed Sasuke's eyes were back to normal. "That special Sharingan must take a lot of chakra..." Naruto thought. He was surprised he could even form one complete word in his head with the four tails, let alone a thought. "I must be getting stronger in battle..." Still, it felt like his skin was burning off, and it was extremely hard to ignore the pain. Naruto hissed painfully and dropped down to one knee, gasping. Sasuke smirked.

"Can't quite handle four tails, yet, eh Naruto?" He glanced in Sakura and Kakashi's direction. "And it looks like Sakura wouldn't help you even if she could."

Naruto growled and stood back up. "You don't know anything about her!"

"I know she's probably still too 'enamored' with me to try and hurt me, especially to help the likes of you," Sasuke said, sneering at him.

Naruto's eyes went an even deeper shade of red, and he summoned a shadow clone to start up his Rasengan. Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "That Rasengan's red..."

He started up his own jutsu, and for a second it was like they were both twelve again, charging at each other over the water.

"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

They ran at each other with their hands stuck out in front of them. Sakura watched with wide eyes as they collided, getting up and running towards them as they both flew backwards in a huge explosion of light and color.

When the light finally faded, Naruto lay flat on his back to Sakura's left, while Sasuke lay to her right in a similar position. Both pairs of eyes were closed. Sakura looked down at her own hands. They were shaking. "After Kakashi-sensei...I only have enough chakra to heal one of them."


	5. The Choice

Sakura stood between the both of them, still shaking and looking back and forth between them. Blood had now started to leak out from under both of them. "I...I can't choose..." she thought.

"They're both going to die," a voice said in her head. "If you don't hurry, they're both going to die. And you're just going to stand here?"

Sakura looked at both of them again. "I can't do it. I was wrong. I'm not over Sasuke! How am I supposed to let one of them die?" She grit her teeth. "But I have to do something..."

Sasuke groaned and suddenly his eyes opened slightly. "Sakura..." he gasped out, giving her a smile. "Help me...please, you're the only one who can save me..." Sakura looked from Sasuke to Naruto, who was still unconscious. She took an uncertain step towards Sasuke.

"That's right...hurry..." Sasuke coughed up some blood, and Sakura glanced at Naruto again. His hand twitched slightly, and Sakura froze. "Hey, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked hoarsely. "If you don't hurry, I'll die! Look, Sakura...I'll do anything. When all this is over, we can even be together. That's what you want, isn't it?" Sasuke gave her a tired smile.

Sakura's fists clenched and unclenched, and she glared at him. "Just stop talking! You're making this too hard, let me think!" She looked back over at Naruto in time to see his hand twitch again and his eyes slowly open.

"Sakura..."

The girl in question could only look at him, feeling a tear run down her cheek. She closed her eyes and clutched her head in thought. "I have to choose..." Both Sasuke and Naruto's faces flashed through her head.

_"Because...you're annoying." _

_"Hey Sakura-chan, wanna go on a date!?" _

_"You're worse than Naruto!" _

_"Will you be my girlfriend?"_

_"When all this is over...we can even be together." _

Suddenly, she was taken back to their first days as a team with Kakashi, trying to get the bells.

_Kakashi sat on Sasuke, holding a kunai to his throat. _

_"Sakura...kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies!" _

_Both Sakura and Naruto cried out in surprise. _

_"That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi withdrew the kunai, and both Naruto and Sakura sighed in relief. "The enemy takes a hostage and you've got an impossible choice, and someone ends up dead." _

Sakura did the only thing she could do...she dropped to her knees and sat there, crying.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke called out angrily. "We're both going to die!"

Sakura ignored him and looked over at Naruto, who stared at her softly. "It's ok, Sakura. You can go heal Sasuke. I'll be fine." He grinned weakly and lifted his arm, slowly forming a thumbs up with his hand. Sakura's lip trembled.

"Naruto..." She looked back over at Sasuke, who met her eyes expectantly. She looked away from him, and after a moment raised her eyes to meet Naruto's again. He gave her another smile, jerking his head towards Sasuke.

"Go ahead, Sakura." He managed a wide smile, but Sakura could see the pain behind his eyes. She slowly shook her head. Naruto frowned. "What's wrong? I said you could go. You can be happy now! I won't get in the way...don't worry about me!" Sakura shook her head even harder, standing up shakily.

"No. I...I can't do that, Naruto."

"Huh? Why not?" Naruto looked at her, confused. "What are you...Sakura, no!"

Sakura ran over to Naruto's side, kneeling down next to him and placing her hands on his stomach.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke called angrily.

She looked down at Naruto to see him glaring at her.

"Why are you wasting your time on me? Go heal Sasuke, Sakura! I know you love him." He tried to shove her hands off of him, but he was too weak to even put any pressure on her. "Stop it...stop healing me."

"No."

Naruto looked up at Sakura's determined face, which was focused on her hands but still soaked with tears. "I'm telling you right now: I want to die. I want you to be happy with Sasuke. I heard him, he said he'd be with you. He'll make you happier than I ever could."

"Be quiet, Naruto. This was my decision to make, and I've made it. I choose you."

Naruto felt his energy coming back after a second, and he tried again to shove her hands away. This time he put up a real fight, and Sakura had to pin his hands down with one hand while she healed him with the other. "Naruto, stop it. You're making this harder than it needs to be."

"Then go heal Sasuke! He won't put up a fi..."

"JUST SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled, turning to look at him. Naruto blinked at her, watching the tears start to fall again. "Stop trying to convince me! I told you, this is my decision, and if you really cared about me you'd respect it!"

Naruto fell silent, his eyes settling on Sasuke, who was sitting up about twenty feet away. His coughing was getting worse, and more blood was coming out with each violent shudder. Sasuke met Naruto's eyes and stopped coughing. Instead, the blood just ran out out of the corner of his mouth. Naruto stared back at him solemnly. He knew he was watching his best friend die.

Sasuke knew it too. A small smile crossed his face, and he whispered just loudly enough for Naruto to hear, "I guess in the end...I was the loser..." He smiled bitterly, and his body went limp and he fell back to the ground, lying there lifelessly. Sasuke Uchiha was dead.

Sakura heard Naruto's gasp and turned towards Sasuke. She felt the tears come even more heavily, but couldn't help thinking about what it would have been like if that had been Naruto.

"Why? Why did you just let him die like that?" Naruto asked in a hushed whisper. "Why didn't you just listen to me and let me die instead?"

Sakura looked into his eyes. "Um...I have a confession."

Naruto thought he knew what was coming, but that didn't prepare him for it. "I love you."

He stared back at her in shock. "W-what? I...you...l-lo...huh?"

Sakura turned away, her hair falling down in front of her face so Naruto couldn't see it. "Just...we'll have this conversation later, okay? Right now let me heal you."

Naruto nodded absentmindedly. On the outside the pain wouldn't stop and he felt like he would die any minute, but on the inside his heart was soaring. He felt like a recording of Sakura's confession would be replaying in his head for the rest of his life. He grinned to himself as the outside pain faded from Sakura's healing, and all he was left with was pure bliss.

"Should I have told him that?" Sakura thought to herself. "What if he freaks out? Oh no, I really screwed up...but at least this time it wasn't a lie. I've never felt this way about anyone...not even Sasuke..." Her throat closed at the thought of Sasuke. She glanced up at his body just in time to see it scooped up by Kakashi, who had apparently woken up. He turned to look at her solemnly.

"He'll be buried with his family, in the village."

Sakura nodded, taking her hands off of Naruto's stomach and standing up. Naruto stood up slowly, holding his stomach.

"I think I'm okay..." he said. Pakkun walked over to them with a serious expression on his face.

"We need to take Sasuke back to the village," he told them. "Are you three okay to go?"

Sakura nodded, and Kakashi said, "I'm a little dizzy, but otherwise I'll be fine."

After a moment of walking around like he was testing himself, Naruto said, "Yeah. I'm ok."

"Alright," Pakkun told them. "We should be able to be back in one hour. We haven't wandered very far out from the village, apparently we were chasing Sasuke in circles."

Kakashi and Pakkun jumped into a nearby tree, and Sakura walked over to Naruto. "Do you think you'll be fine?"

Naruto looked at her. "Yeah. I can travel."

Sakura gave him a small smile, grabbing his hand. "Good." She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "We'll talk when we get back to village."

Naruto looked from Sakura's face to their hands and smiled softly. They jumped into a tree side by side, and began their journey back to the village.


	6. The Burial

When they arrived at the gates and walked through the middle of the village, people froze and turned to look at them everywhere they went.

Just as they were about to reach Tsunade's office, Sakura heard a familiar voice from behind her. It was the same one that had called out to her a few days before.

"Oh my gosh, Sakura!" Ino cried. Apparently she had spotted Sakura and Naruto's hands, which were still joined. "You and Naruto? That's so cute!" Sakura and Naruto turned around to stare at her sadly. Ino looked taken back. "What's wrong with you guys? I thought you'd be..." she trailed off as Kakashi turned around, revealing Sasuke in his arms. Ino opened and closed her mouth for a moment, before finally bursting into tears and running off. Sakura stared after her friend for a moment, before turning to Naruto.

"I'll be back later," she told him, and ran off after Ino. Naruto and Kakashi turned back around, avoiding the stares of the villagers. They passed by Team 8. Shino's expression was unreadable behind his sunglasses, but Hinata and Kiba openly stared in shock. Naruto noticed they were holding hands.

Kakashi burst into Tsunade's office without knocking, and she looked up angrily, but her gaze immediately softened when she saw why they were there.

Meanwhile, Sakura chased a crying Ino all the way back to her family's flower shop. They stared at each other for a moment, before Ino collapsed on the ground in heap, tears running down her face. Sakura ran over to her side and sat down next to her, wrapping her arms around her in a sideways hug.

"I-I thought I c-could h-handle it...if h-he died...I knew it m-might happen...b-but..." Ino said shakily.

Sakura nodded. "It's ok, Ino. I know how you feel. I've been through a lot in the past few days."

Ino sniffed, wiping her tears away, only to have them replaced by more. "I wanna k-know...who killed h-him?"

Sakura gave her a small smile. "You should stop talking like that. It makes you sound like Hinata."

Ino frowned at her. "Y-you're avoiding the question."

Sakura sighed and looked at the floor. "Naruto. But...it's my fault he died." With another sigh, Sakura went through their whole trip in the next ten minutes. When she was done, Ino looked at her.

"Wow. I...wow. That must have been hard," Ino said, calmer now that everything had been explained to her. "I can't imagine what that would be like. If I had to choose between Shikamaru and Chouji..."

Sakura frowned. "Yeah...but do you think I made the right choice?"

Ino blinked at her. "Well...it was _your _choice to make. You're the only one who can decide what the answer to that question is. If I had been in your position...well, I certainly don't care for Naruto as much as you do."

"Ino?"

"Yeah?"

Sakura looked at her. "I'm sorry I killed Sasuke."

Ino opened her mouth slightly, gazing at Sakura in disbelief. "Sakura, don't say that! You didn't kill him!"

"Yeah...I just didn't save his life."

"Which is a huge difference when you have to choose between two people!"

Sakura sighed. "Well, now that you're feeling a little bit better...I guess I better head to Tsunade's office. We have to...bury him. Do you want to come?"

Ino looked down in thought, before looking back at her. "Yeah. I think I will."

Together they headed to Tsunade's office. When they reached the door, a note had been taped to it telling them to go to the outskirts of town, where the Uchihas had lived.

As soon as they got into the center of the Uchiha Clan's old settlement, they could see a small crowd of people off in the distance, gathering in front of a long line of crosses, including Rock Lee's team, Team 8, Chouji, and Shikamaru. Kakashi and Naruto each had a shovel, and were digging a new grave next to the last cross. They finished as Ino and Sakura joined them, and Naruto and Kakashi cllimbed out of the hole. Not a minute later a few men arrived carrying a coffin. Kakashi looked at Naruto and Sakura. "Would you two like to do it?"

Naruto and Sakura's eyes met, and then they both looked up at Kakashi and nodded. He handed them Sasuke's body, and they both lowered it slowly into the coffin. Everyone took a second to admire Sasuke's bruised but peaceful face, and then Naruto closed the lid, and he and Sakura lowered it into the grave, grabbing the shovels and covering it with dirt afterwards.

Everyone took time to pray, and when they were done, Naruto voiced, "He's with his parents now."

It was then that everyone departed in several different directions, Sakura bidding goodbye to Ino and then grabbing Naruto by the wrist and pulling him behind an abandoned cottage when nobody was looking.

"Time to talk?" Naruto asked. Sakura shook her head, and Naruto looked at her, confused. Sakura cupped his cheek in her hand and kissed him lightly, pressing her forehead against his when they broke apart. At that moment, nothing more needed to be said.

Two Months Later:

Naruto woke up and stretched with a loud yawn and a grin, hurriedly getting dressed. "Ah...today's the day! I bet she thinks I forgot..." he thought to himself. "...but I'm going to surprise her with this..." He took a necklace out of his dresser and admired it. "Man...this thing cost a fortune...but it's worth it to see Sakura's face when she finds out what her boyfriend got her for her brithday!" He ran out the front door, colliding into the very girl he had just been thinking about. "Hey Sakura!" he exclaimed, picking himself up and helping her up afterwards. Sakura rubbed her head.

"Hey Naruto. Just seeing if you were up yet. Obviously, you are." She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. Naruto smiled widely at her, but Sakura was now looking down at his hand. "Naruto...what are you holding?"

Naruto's smiled disapeared and he looked from Sakura to the necklace and back. He jerked his arm behind him. "Nothing!" He smiled innocently.

Sakura glared at him and held out her hand. "Give it here."

Naruto frowned. "Uh...ok, I will...just let me go get something..." He turned to go back inside, and Sakura grabbed his shirt and held him back. Naruto sighed in defeat. "Alright. But let me do this my way. Turn around."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Naruto, if you really think I'm going to turn around so you can run away..."

"No, no, that's not it!"

"Well, for all I know, it could be an explosive!" Sakura exclaimed, but she turned around anyway. "Hey, by the way, it's my birthday today, you baka. I bet you forgot!" Naruto put the necklace over her head and clasped it from behind her.

Sakura looked down at it, then spun around and gaped at him. "Naruto! This must have cost your entire allowance! It's so beautful!"

Naruto grinned. "I don't mind. Happy birthday, Sakura! Oh, and that's not all, let me take you out for breakfast!" Sakura cried out in surprise as Naruto grabbed her wrist and jerked her in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen. "I have coupons!"

Sakura sighed. "Alright, I'll go. But only because I love this necklace so much." Naruto turned around and pushed his lips out in a pout. Sakura laughed, kissing him lightly. "And you." Naruto grinned and proceeded to drag her the rest of the way. Sakura watched them pass by other villagers, who were for the most part doing normal things. The invisible dark cloud that had hung over the village ever since Sasuke's death had begun to ebb away. Sakura thought of her friends. Even Ino was dating again. Who, Sakura wasn't sure. Probably multiple guys. Hinata had also moved on from Naruto to Kiba. Sakura had found that out the day after they came back from their mission. And Tenten...well, she had been talking about Neji an awful lot lately. Sakura looked up. And she had Naruto. Even as Naruto skidded to a stop in front of his favorite place to eat, drooling at the thoughts of all the ramen he could be stuffing into his face, Sakura decided she wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
